Author Archives: Steven Engler

Democrats have proven yet again that their strategy of waiting for Republicans to mess up even more is not sustainable. If Republicans lose control in the House of Representatives or the Senate this November, it will not come on the coattails of Democratic senators’ handling of the Detainee Bill. Although the Democrats’ lack of participation »

As classes wind down and the end-of-term scramble begins, I am reminded of the superiority of lectures over seminars. My work is largely done in my lecture classes; my work has just begun in my seminars. I can confidently say I have a breadth of knowledge about the U.S. Civil War and about Shakespeare’s comedies »

I have given up on e-mail. E-mail is not the efficient tool it was purported to be. It is yet another means of procrastination. It has institutionalized flakiness and engendered myriad excuses for not fulfilling obligations (“Oh, I never received that e-mail”; “My computer has a virus”). E-mail has made it impossible to pin people »

Of all Yale’s illustrious traditions and selling points, the residential college system is king. A residential college is not just a place to eat and sleep, we are told by tour guides; it is an indelible part of a Yalie’s character, a facet of his or her identity. Although other aspects of the Yale experience »

If premed is a highway, I stayed on the service road. I never felt truly like I was premed: I was in DS freshman year and never caught a whiff of organic chemistry. But for most of my life, I thought I was going to be a doctor. After rational consideration of this childhood notion »

Since 1701, Yale University has educated its students to make responsible decisions not only for their own futures, but for the future of our nation and the world. Our generation’s future will be determined by decisions made now regarding energy: our international choice to maintain our climate, our national choice to regain energy independence and »

Crazy Legs Conti, the eccentric New York City window washer, nude model, sperm donor and professional eater, shared a euphemism Thursday for vomiting during a competitive eating contest. “We call it ‘urges contrary to swallowing,’” Conti said. “When it occurs it’s a Roman incident — very volcanic.” Conti, along with competitive eaters Hungry “Godfather” Charles »

Whether they write to improve their economy of expression or because they are bored with studying the U.S. economy, many Elis believe writing will be an essential skill no matter what they do in life. And a proposal in the 2003 academic review, which recommended that each member of the Class of 2009 and beyond »

The lightweight crew team handed MIT and Boston College a beating to sweep the Joy Cup Saturday in Cambridge, Mass. “There’s a lot of optimism floating around the boathouse,” Jordan Winick ’07 said. Racing with a moderate 10-15 mph headwind and a slight chop on the Charles River, the Yale first Varsity Eight finished in »

Women’s track and field split up this weekend — one group ran through the rain in Philadelphia while the other traveled to sunny North Carolina. But the result was the same for the two groups — first-place finishes at both the Duke Invitational on Friday and Saturday, and the Penn Invitational on Sunday. In the »

Elizabeth Shogren of the Los Angeles Times described an elevator ride in which two U.S. senators expressed the frustrations they faced in pushing for environmental reform. “No one cares. Nobody pays attention to us,” Shogren recalled both senators saying. Echoing this quotation, Shogren, along with Eric Pianin of the Washington Post, addressed about 60 people »

The Korean American comedian PK offered his “Asian brothers” some advice at the Korean American Students Conference at Yale this weekend. “It’s not about size, it’s about speed,” PK said. “It’s not about size; it’s about surprise.” The conference, the 18th annual, proved to be about all three. Over 550 Korean American college students from »